In one aspect, this invention relates to therapeutic beds. In another aspect, this invention relates to an attachment for beds to provide a periodic reduction in pressure on body pressure points to aid in maintaining good circulation. In a further aspect, this invention relates to a method for maintaining good blood circulation. In yet another aspect, this invention relates to a pump which can be used with the just described method and apparatus.
Patients in frail health, whether in hospitals, or in nursing homes, or at home, require periodic turning to relieve pressure on body parts to prevent bed sores caused by patient inactivity and resulting curtailment of blood circulation. Such periodic patient turning consumes a great amount of time of the attending medical personnel. The patient turning operation also disturbs patient's sleep and rest. Various devices have been proposed to make the task of turning easier. U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,337, for example, discloses a special mattress pad to make it easier to turn the patient.
Kinetic therapeutic tables which slowly rotate patient support to vary the patient body parts to support his weight and alleviate bed sores are also known. Some examples of such therapeutic tables are U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,076,675 of Sharp; 2,950,715 of Brobeck; 3,434,165 of Keane; 3,748,666 of Seng; 4,107,490 of Keane; 4,175,550 of Leininger et al. and 4,277,857 of Syehaug.
In using such therapeutic tables the patient's body is tilted. It then becomes necessary to provide lateral support to prevent the patient from falling off the table. In the table of Keane U.S. Pat. No. 3,434,165, elongate, upstanding side members provide lateral support. Sometimes it is also necessary to provide means to restrain the patient knee and foot against movement to prevent injury to these body parts. The amount of movement in such devices is so extreme that it can interfere with a patients rest. Clearly a therapeutic bed which does not require restraining the patient or movements of the patient to such an extent that it interferes with their rest would be very desirable.
In some of known tables, in addition to rotary motion about an elongate axis, pivot or tilt motion about a transverse axis is also provided. Devices which provide for this type of movement for a patient support are known as illustrated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,076,675 of Sharp; 3,434,165 of Keane; 3,525,308 of Koopmans et al. and 4,277,857 of Syehaug. In Sharp U.S. Pat. No. 2,076,675 and Keane U.S. Pat. No. 3,325,308 the beds also rotate. In Chrones U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,024 an improved control system is provided to alleviate some of the problems of prior art but the table remains a cumbersome design and is quite expensive due to its elaborate features. Also, these devices are very complicated and require training and supervision to function properly. It is clear that a means for providing a therapeutic bed in an inexpensive and portable manner would be very desirable. A device which does not require adjustment, fixing, laundering, changing, adapting, or complicated instructions would be of benefit to a great many people.
The mechanical design and control systems of the aforementioned tables require quite elaborate features which result in expensive tables yet do not afford complete body blood circulation improvements. The complicated designs of these tables make the maintenance expensive. Many of the designs aid only portions of a persons body. Many of them require a facility to buy entire beds, special mattresses or other accessories. A device that would periodically take the weight off all of the pressure points of the body would clearly be a great advance. An attachment for existing hospital-type beds would be a blessing.